The ruler of Oman, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, recently made a two day official visit to Iran and met with newly re-elected Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Oman, a Persian Gulf country that, via the Musandam Peninsular, shares control over the Strait of Hormuz with Iran, maintains good relations with the Islamic Republic.  Oman also has friendly relations with both the United States and Great Britain.

On August 12, an article appeared on the Iranian news site Ayandeh News concerning Sultan Qaboos' visit to Tehran.  A State Department and BBC translation of the Iranian news article cites that one purpose of Qaboos' visit was to relay a "secret" message to Iranian leaders from the British government that Britain "called for the building of trust and removal of tension in its relations with Tehran and announced its readiness to cooperate closely with the Ahmadinezhad government."  Further, the article notes, "the British government has been trying to negotiate directly with Iranian officials" and British foreign secretary David Miliband "sent messages to one of our country ' s (Iran) senior officials in which he has voiced his desire to negotiate...".  Reportedly, the Iranians have not responded positively to the British overtures.

If this Iranian news report is true, it would appear America's British allies have taken a cue from the Obama Administration and decided that attempting to negotiate with and accommodate a country that calls for the destruction of Israel and the United States while seeking nuclear weapons is a preferred approach.  Interestingly, the Iranians seemingly have no interest.